Demonbane
by Sepapa
Summary: After Akzeriuth. With Luke ill and all the evidence leading nowhere, our heroes are left with nothing but vague answers. R
1. Chapter 1

**Demonbane**

_Drip._

_Drip._

_ Drip._

**T**here was nothing but perpetual darkness greeting the young replica when he came to. He lay there for a good few minutes, subconsciously wiping away the water on his face before he sat up. Luke was puzzled, no—that was an understatement. There was no word to describe how he was feeling right now. He swallowed back the shame he was feeling.

Ghastly figures glowed faintly as they circled around him, groaning and weeping, all of them blaming the poor boy on his reckless actions. They reached out to him, their bloodied hands grabbing at his coat. Luke widened his eyes in fear, moving frantically to get the limbs off him. They hissed out insults to him, and called out for his life.

"Murderer…." A little girl said, she had skeleton eyes like the rest of them but he could feel their hateful stares. They all joined in unison, their voices dragging and deadpan. In amidst of the crowd, he could see his comrades with seething eyes and scowls directed on him. Then, he appeared on the half destroyed Tarutarus, all his friends—no should he be calling them that? They were nothing more than acquaintances. They also cornered him, their words stung worse than the souls of the dead.

"Ever since you lost your memory, you're like a completely different person…" Natalia chastised. Luke tried to clear his name and was a grateful that Ion tried to comfort him, but Anise intruded,

"Don't even talk to him, he's nothing but worthless!" The guardian sneered. The replica watched the two children follow after the princess and he turned to Guy, who was more ashamed of him than the first three.

Tear was the last to leave, her words hurt the most.

" I was stupid for starting to think you had some good in you." She told him coldly before turning and walking away, fading with the rest of them.

And when Asch revealed he was nothing but a replica of the god-general, he felt his world was crushed…

So, that's how everyone thought of him, nothing more of a fraud and a pest. And Master Van—Luke squeezed his eyes shut, curling his arms around his knees. Then, he solemnly rested his chin on his knees, frowning at the memory replaying over and over in his head. The way Master Van looked at Luke, the way everyone looked at him when he single-handily destroyed Akzeriuth, it was too much. And then, after Luke came out of comatose, he cut his hair for Tear, but he knew she doubted him. He was a spoiled brat, after all.

_Plunk._

_Plunk._

_Plunk._

A feeling of guilt weighed down his shoulders; he… killed thousands with just his hands. It wasn't an army, or a weapon he used, but his own hands. His heart sank when he dawned at a realization of not being able to save the innocents of the mining city. Luke couldn't save even anyone, let alone himself. Hell if it weren't for Tear, he'd be dead right now.

The red head cogitated darkly; the words in his mind were like sick laughter.

He is a weapon after all, he is a replica.

Luke shook the thoughts out his head; no he shouldn't be brooding over such things. After all, he made a promise to Tear and these negative thoughts would do nothing but stunt his goal. Maybe he couldn't save anyone back then but it would now definitely change. They had to.

Then a slithery voice snaked its way up into Luke's ear, breaking his chain of thoughts.

" _Goooddd… You're… finally realizing what… you are_," The replica shuddered, goose bumps tickling his skin as the voice continued. " You… are a monssster."

" W-who… What are you?" Luke called out, looking around only to find darkness. The redhead chewed his lip nervously.

" _Lisssten to me, boy,_" The voice hissed to Luke making him shudder both mentally and physically.

_Plunk._

_Plunk._

_Plunk._

"_You… are mine…_," The voice seemed to grow nearer.

_Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

" _Yesss… thingsss… sssuch as yourself have little soul… little strength…_" There seemed to be a snicker, Luke cringed at the usage of the word 'thing'. There was silence in the air before chanting filled his ears, it echoed inside his head with its droning mumbles.

Suddenly, Luke felt very dizzy.

_Ba-dum!_

_Ba-dum!_

_Ba-dum!_

Luke broke into a cold sweat, and his breathing became rapid. Even the singing was louder than the rhythm of his heart.

"_There isss no… need… resssissst. You are… mine. Not even… Lorelei will… sssave you_," The droning words grew louder, and so did his headache. It progressively got worse; Luke begged the singing to cease, clutching his skull.

"S-Stop!" They seemed to be laughing at him, he couldn't bare the pain his head and doubled over, curling into a ball.

"Stop, please stop," His were words nothing but a whisper as their laughter only continued. Luke was on the brink of tears, the voices were attacking his ears. Their words like swords. Why couldn't it just stop? Was this punishment?

Luke closed his eyes, not able to bear it any longer. The sound fading away as his conscience slipped from his grasp.

Then, there was nothing but silence.

* * *

Okay, so how do you like it?

Critiques?

Please review, it encourages me to write more and longer (maybe :) ) This also helps me in my writing skill!

Any questions you have in the future?

Disclaimer: I dont own tota.


	2. Chapter 2

**T**hey departed from the dark, desolated underworld that all came to know as the Qliphoth. It was a lonely place, there was never sunlight reaching the gloomy atmosphere that hung thick in the air. Sea of amethyst poisons surrounded the only civilization: Yulia City.

Luke didn't like that place at all. Its isolationist lifestyle would turn any warm hearted man into stone, which explained why Tear was so cold at times. Ever since they departed the seemingly abyssal trench, Luke felt almost relief wash over him. When he was there, he felt something was watching him, lurking beneath shadows and waiting to pounce on him—or maybe he was just being paranoid. The only haven was at the selenia garden, where he and Tear held their conversation of Akzeriuth.

In the cabin, Luke looked at his hands, at first glimpse they were painted a dark red, but in a flash-it was gone. Innocent lives were stained on his hands. He couldn't believe that a seven year old could be a murderer ( Well, mentally.). It seemed whenever he had a lone time he would be brooding over the incidents of the past. Well, at least his conversation with Guy hadn't been so bad.

The replica felt a smile come on his face—Guy had came back for him. Though, their conversation had left a small bump on his head, it seemed that Guy believed in him for the better. He wouldn't let them down, it was a promise.

* * *

'_The blonde gave the red head a good punch on the crown of the head, lips drawn to a small frown. Luke rubbed his forehead, eyes wide with shock. A questioning gleam sparked in his emerald eyes as they locked on Guy for answers._

_The servant gave a sigh, his eyebrows raised skywards._

_" You sure must've swallowed a lot of insults while you were sleeping," He shook his head but then began again after a short intake of air._

_" And here I was, waiting for you."_

_" B-but I'm just a replica, not the real Luke! Asch is—" the noble retorted but was interrupted by a finger poking his forehead._

_"You're you, Luke," Guy clarified, his eyes meeting his ex-master's._

_" …and I would never abandon my best friend, no matter how dumb he can be." Guy's word was final, his eyes softened as he regarded at Luke._

_Luke smiled inwardly, and surprisingly, the weight on his shoulders had grown a little lighter._

_

* * *

_

The noble lay in hid bed, listening to the waves that crashed against the rocking ship. To be honest, Luke hadn't gotten that much sleep, so as soon as they rejoined with the rest of the group the noble went straight into the cabin and took a nice, long nap. He intended to apologize to all of them, but the heaviness in his eyes compelled him to sleep.

He sat up, running a hand through his hair. Luke was nervous to meet his comrades, the last time he saw them, and they seemed quite appalled by him (excluding Guy and Tear, of course). He set himself on his feet and dragged them towards the bathroom. The noble decided not to turn on the lights, since the lamp hanging from his cabin was bright enough for Luke to see a large portion of the bathroom, except for the dark tendrils hiding snug in the far side of the room.

He gave a good look at himself, but something in the background had sparked his interest. Something was off about it.

…

…

…

There it was!

Luke spun around quickly, right where he sworn he saw sharp teeth curved into a cheshire grin at him. It just appeared out of nowhere. He was hoping that it was just the trick of eyes, an illusion because he was just so tired. The bags that were under his eyes could tell anyone that.

It was still there; this time the smile grew bigger and a pair of golden orbs opened to look down on him.

Luke's eyes were glued to those sharp teeth, his hand feeling the wall for the light switch.

His heart pounded in his chest when he finally flicked the switch on. The red-head was thrown off to see just what he assumed was… a cheagle?

" Hellllooo, gru!" It chirped, floating closer to the scion. The tiny claws on its hand wiggled evilly as darkness started to surround him. Luke squeezed his eyes shut, wishing for the cheagle-imp to go away.

" Why so afraid, gru? You should be honored, gru!" It told in a matter-of-fact way as if everyone knew.

" W-what?"

"'Cause, gru~gru," It visibly got more excited. "Da Mistress is adopting you, gru!" And with its scaly bat wings, it flapped above Luke's head and made its self comfortable there.

" I'm sorry but I don't want to be adopted." The red-head said hesitantly, not sure on how to reply to that but the thing disagreed with a shake of its head.

" Too late," The creature said, the tone of its voice totally taking on a new creepy. "Ruinosus angelus, you are apart of our family now."

A claw skidded across his forehead, and Luke felt a wave of dizziness crash over him.

"Become wild for us and discard the leash you call humanity."

* * *

Mehhh~ sorry for such a short chappie... review please!

Thanks for all your reviews, all four of you3333333333333333


	3. Chapter 3

Luke stood there, face drawn to a blank. The dizziness he was experiencing had washed away rather quickly, he was feeling fine now. It seemed the imp had noticed too. The noble grabbed the cheagle/imp again and lowered it to his eye-level.

"I'm going to assume that this is a dream." He commented with eyes half lidded in disbelief. His mouth was drawn into a thin line and slightly curved downwards. What was all this mumbo jumbo it was squealing about? Really, he had been nervous—afraid almost—of it a few seconds ago, but now the urge of throwing it across the far side of the room and yelling 'thing' was on his mindset. But for now, he pushed those thoughts aside. (Besides he was trying to break those habits.)

" Gruuuuu~, b-but da m-master chose you!" The creature sulked, its ears pulled back and eyes swelling up tears. It looked like it was about to cry a waterfall. A bead of sweat rolled down Luke's face as he tried to comfort the imp.

" Now, now. Um. Maybe your master was mistak—"

" NO! Da master never makes mistakes." The critter hissed out and Luke flashed him a nervous smile. There it went, being scary again… He released the cheagle, as it was bawling and spun around. The red-head placed his hand on the doorknob and proceeded to turn it, only to find it jammed. Wait… he didn't remember closing the door on the way in.

Luke decided to take another glance at the room he had been. The light was on, despite the darkness that enveloped most of the room and the door was jammed lock. Not only that, the cheagle that was here just a few seconds ago had vanished.

In another blink, the interior of the room had considerably changed. Now, Luke knew he was having a dream. A weird, trippy dream.

An elegant chandelier hung from a nonexistent ceiling. Blue flames twinkled as the chandelier swung back and forth in a hypnotic swoosh. Luke fixed his eyes on one candle. The beige, melted wax dripped slowly.

"Hello, Luke fon Fabre." A seductive voice greeted. Luke tensed, forcing his eyes to stay glued on that single candle.

A chuckled resounded, amused by the boys stubbornness.

" Don't be afraid boy, I only wish to mingle." She said her voice long and soothing, it bordered almost motherly (Well, a disturbing motherly). This time, the red-head slowly moved his eyes downwards to the origin of the voice.

The chandelier revealed a face worth of praise. Pale skin stood out in amidst of all the black she wore. Her dress was no doubt, of quality a noble would wear. Her torso was almost tied with a top strongly resembling a corset; silver lining embroidered it with swirly lines. Her puffed out sleeves hung loosely around her wrists and the dress was a silky black with lace designs covering it. She seemed to be sitting in an urbane chair, gold carvings drawn into the seat.

"Come closer, I don't bite. " She purred but Luke stood his ground, he definitely knew she was lying. She had that same tone Master Van used when the God-General praised him on his arrogance. Plus, she totally had the 'creepers' look. Minutes had passed, silence enveloping the standstill.

She twirled her midnight hair in one finger, glaring at the noble with blood-red eyes that matched the intensity of the Colonel's.

"I sssaid, Come. Here." Her face wrinkled into an annoyed hiss. The noble felt his body moving on its own. The sound of which could easily pass off as drum beats, his heart, resounded in his chest.

'Stop!' But to no avail, his body kept on dragging towards the dark lady, ignoring his protests. The countess lips twisted into insane smile, fangs protruded and a forked tongue flickered out every now and then. He finally stopped, back straightening and arms glued to his side like how a soldier would stand.

"You think thisssss isss a dream?" The tone of her voice had leaded him to believe it was rhetorical. But something else had stopped him from answering. Luke emerald orbs had widened, his teeth slightly clenched as the pressure on his throat had grown stronger. An invisible force was strangling him.

He couldn't breathe.

" Tell me, doesss this feel like a dream to you?" She laughed.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't even move. No, this didn't feel like a dream at all, but—it had to be!

Apparently, the evil witch was pleased and freed him of the invisible hands.

" Now child, you ssshould thank me of being ssso nice to you." Nice to her? The lady should rethink the total definition of the word 'nice', Luke thought.

" I could've used this opportunity to make you into food for my pets but, I like you." She said slowly, emphasizing every word loud and clearly. Her lispth, as Luke would call it, had totally disappeared.

" I want you to be mine…" She rose up, eyes gleaming as they locked on the young aristocrat. Luke swallowed back a lump in his throat. He wanted—no-needed to run far away from this crazy lady.

A clawed hand slithered through his hair, making Luke shudder in return, mentally and physically.

" I…never had a child to call my own…" Luke mentally rolled his eyes, maybe it was, oh, he didn't know…. Crazy as all hell?

" But you.. You're perfect: beautiful red hair, emerald green eyes and a weak sssoul!" She listed, disturbingly delighted as if he was some /thing/. Oh, he forgot! He was replica, he actually was a thing. Luke felt the guilt weigh him down and that didn't help this situation at all.

"The ssspells worked considerably well, too. I expected you to be dead." She leaned towards him, face snuggled into his neck. Then, a searing pain erupted from where she bit. If Luke was in control of his body right now, he'd be screaming in pain. Instead he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth. He could feel poisons entering his body and slowly stealing his warmth. When she let go, Luke fell to the floor with a dull thump.

Now all she had to do was play the waiting game. With this special spell and her venom, she'd have her dream child. Her twisted image of a perfect child was about to become a reality.

Besides, it's too late turn back now.

* * *

Luke's eyes had opened up to Mieu's worrisome coos. He assumed by the critter's eyes and ears perking up that it (or was it he?) noticed he was waking up.

" Master you're awake! I was soo worried!" The creature gushed, floating nearer to the replica as he sat up. He looked around the room, searching for any signs of abnormalities. He didn't find anything, but he did see a figure in his peripheral vision. It was someone who he knew for a long time, his best friend and manservant, Guy Cecil.

" Glad for you to join us." He said referring to himself and Mieu , eyes closed and lips drawn into a little smile.

" Y-yea. It is." Luke replied, almost relieved. This earned a questioning gleam from the other.

" So now you can tell me what's wrong." Guy said, taking no hesitation to pounce on the young aristocrat.

"W-what?" Luke widened his eyes.

" Mieu came into our room crying that you were dying," He said flatly, the 'our' obviously referring to his comrades.

"Aaand we found you on the bathroom floor, out cold." He finished, his eagle eyes trained on the young aristocrat for his answer. Luke's eyebrows crinkled together, unsure to tell him of his dream. Damn, why did Guy have to be like this?

" I-I had this dream…" Luke started; he looked down and played with his fingers. Guy didn't say a word but he was listening carefully.

" More like a n-nightmare, actually. It was dark, I could barely see anything but then everyone," Luke sucked in a shaky breath. " Everyone who died in Akzeriuth, they…Me…You…" His words broken up slowly, his eyes glazing over as he remembered it all vividly.

The red head purposely left out the part with the unspeakables hanging ornamentally around his already eerie nightmare. He only counted in the first dream also. Guy had put both hands on his shoulders and shook him out of his daydream, the noble's eyes snapping back to reality.

In every crease of skin that wrinkled together in the infamous Guy frown showed the epitome of brotherly worry.

" Luke…" He started his voice low.

"Tell me if you ever have these nightmares… Okay?" Guy said, it wasn't a question, Luke nodded hesitantly in return.

Awkwardness drifted in the air as Guy got up to leave but he stopped midway.

"I care about you Luke… don't you forget that." He said, not turning around to face the aristocrat after that, he vanished into the hallway. Those words reassured Luke more than anything.

It really did.

* * *

ARRGGHHH IM SOOOOO SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED! I meant to... and then i got stuck on a part and then I forgot *shot*

Anyway, crits are welcome! Did any of these characters seem OOC to you? Lemme know! .!

Scarpaw: I meant for it to be humorous, but I wanted to have a sort of dark cuteness to it... I'm glad it worked!

co426e: Who doesn't... :)

Thanks everyone for youre reviews! Ask questions! Speculate... nehehehe! Please review! If theres any errors tell meh!


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you all for your reviews guys!

this is a short chapter, i am getting back into the swing of thing

I am surprised. 17 reviews WOW!

blazingreaper:

Q: Is luke a vampire?

A: Who knows...?

have anymore questions, please ask me!

* * *

There were butterflies in his stomach. The aristocrat folded his arms in an attempt to lock away his insecurities, but to no avail the butterflies still kept their mindless fluttering on top game.

It was agonizing.

He tried to push away the recent_ unmentionable_ events that ever so graced his presence so he could focus on apologizing to his… accomplices.

Accomplices. Was that even an appropriate name to call them? After all, they loathed his entirety.

And then, there was an approving _hiss_ of a snake echoing within the abyss of his mind.

Luke shook his head, enough of that. He didn't need any more demonic hallucinations following suit.

A bright light dawned upon the redhead.

Yes, it had to be some sort of hallucination. The lack of sleep, and the fall of Akzerituth probably really did a number on his grip of reality.

He sighed in relief. Nothing ever beats the miracles of logic.

" What's logic, Lulu?" A small scream came from Luke, not loud enough for the others outside to hear, but still.

He jumped off the bed he had comfortably sat on since now and turned around.

Oh_ Loreilei._

It was him.

Just.

Just why?

" Huuuuuu. Why so scared gru? I'm your servant (grugru)."

" _Servant?_ How about a more _evil_ than Jade thing that came from the depths of Hell!" Luke croaked, terrified.

" Don't worry, Master! I'll protect you!" Came a chirp, a blue blur crashed into the "significant"other.

They spun on the wooden floor, pulling at each others ears and other convenient appendages.

And Luke just stood there, not sure what do at that point.


End file.
